


Rules and Reasons

by madamebomb



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Sexual Situations, Zuki, horny groping, makeout fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 06:31:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7563892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamebomb/pseuds/madamebomb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko finally snaps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rules and Reasons

Exactly how she came to be jammed into a tiny closet on a moving train, wrapped tightly around the Fire Lord and kissing him for all she was worth, Suki couldn't properly say. And not just because her mouth was too busy for speech at the moment. It seemed as if time had stopped, there in the desperate, warm clench of his arms, and she couldn't remember anything that came before. Maybe nothing in her life had existed before his mouth had crushed hers.

Well, okay, that was silly, but it _felt_ that way.

It was certainly hard to think beyond the moment. Each delicious, breath-stealing, hormone-soaked, please-don't-stop moment.

She moaned into his kisses, not caring about quiet or listening ears or anything but the naked now. The desire, the need, the ferocious roaring of her blood and the sweet, sweet heat of his body, his mouth, his breath, his thigh poking into—OH.

That wasn't his thigh.

Her skin felt like it was going to explode, heat rising in her as she twisted her fingers in the lapels of his soft silk shirt.

_Oh, Zuko, Zuko, Zuko..._

He filled her whole mind, chasing away her good sense, her awareness of her surroundings, her reason, and the part of her that should have been telling her to stop, to slow down, to push him away because... _Because._ Because it was Zuko. Because there were reasons she shouldn't be shoving her tongue into his mouth.

Bullshit reasons, but reasons just the same. Important reasons. Reasons she'd been harboring for a long time as protection against the heat of his eyes, the touch of his hand, the slyness of his rare smile, the knee-knocking force of her attraction to him.

Reasons. So many reasons.

And fuck them all.

The train rocked, knocking them off balance a little—not that they'd been particularly stable before, groping each other as they were. Her shoulder slammed painfully against the wall of the...closet? It had to be a closet; this damned train was a maze. Zuko caught himself from crushing her with one hand on the wall. His other hand was sliding around her waist, tugging her lower body back into his, or maybe dragging himself forward, unwilling to break the contact.

His mouth was so warm, so soft, so fucking _insistent._

She'd had any number of fantasies about seducing him over the years, but she had never imagined that Zuko would have been the one to actually initiate it. That he'd kiss her like this so suddenly... That was so...freaking _hot._

Zuko was usually so reticent, so stiff and shy. It was half of the reason he drove her so crazy. The fact that he had just grabbed her and pulled her into the closet was mind-blowing.

She definitely had a weakness for dorks, and Zuko was the Dork Lord, Ruler of Awkward Town. It was a wonder she hadn't launched herself at him before tonight. Her self-control, right up until the moment he'd kissed her, had been impeccable, really. She ought to have won awards for not climbing into his lap before now.

For months there had been this... _Thing_ between them. An unspoken attraction. Glances here and there. A lingering touch. Late night conversations where they talked about everything _but_ The Thing, even though The Thing was sitting there between them like an 800-lb gorilla goat.

They'd gotten close to The Thing a few times, but they had both shied away from it. Her, because of Reasons. Him... Because he was _Zuko_ , she supposed.

Whatever had made him break and tug her into this closet just so he could make out with her face was a total mystery to her. One minute they'd been in the dining car of the new high speed Earth Kingdom train, discussing his security at the opening of yet another station on the route from Republic City to Ba Sing Se. Zuko had sponsored and overseen the construction of the railroad connecting the two cities. He'd been holding ribbon-cutting ceremonies at every station on the route, spreading goodwill for the Harmony Restoration Movement.

It had been a long journey so far. The train wasn't open to the public yet, just some high-ranking officials and their families, plus a contingent of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation soldiers to ensure the safety of the Fire Lord. Zuko had his own poshly appointed sleeping car, so the journey had been long, but not uncomfortable.

She'd been pretty impressed with the spaciousness of the train herself.

That was, until he'd steered her into this tiny ass closet and proceeded to make out with her face.

Not that she was complaining. She rather liked the way Zuko's broad shoulders filled up the space, the way he pressed her against the wall. She didn't feel trapped. She felt...

Well, she felt a lot of things at the moment.

“Mmmm...”

Zuko deepened the kiss, pressing her head back against the wall of the rocking train, the hand he'd been bracing against the wall sliding into her hair. He was taller than she was and she was practically pulling herself up into his mouth. Her tongue rolled against his, wet and slow. His taste filled her mouth, his breath mingling with hers as he retreated and then came again, like a wave of erotic heat that blasted her senses and set fires in her belly.

Her hand was in his hair too, twisting up in the long strands, tugging, threading, touching him like she'd never dared to do before. He smelled So. Fucking. Good.

She breathed him in through her nose, daring to slit her eyes open and peek at him through her lashes. His eyes were closed, brow furrowed, skin flushed. She liked the way he looked kissing her. Determined. Aroused. Desperate.

She closed her eyes again, and pushed him back. He didn't let her go though, pulling her with him as his back hit the door of the closet. His arms went around her, pulling her against his chest.

She was vaguely aware of the way she was straddling his thigh, practically grinding on him. He didn't seem to mind. In fact, his hand pressed into her lower back, pulling and pushing her against him.

 _All_ of him.

Her blood pressure soared, goaded on by the dig into her hip.

Her hand slipped down between them, spreading across the bulge there and squeezing gently. Zuko cut off the kiss with a strangled gasp, followed by a guttural sound that made everything south of her navel clench. His breath puffed against her lips as she moved her hand to his chin, staring into his eyes in the gloom.

“Going too fast?” she whispered—the first thing either of them had said since he'd pushed her in here. How long ago had that been? Minutes? Hours? Seconds? Days? Did it matter? Her lips were numb, stinging, raw from kissing him for so long.

Zuko hesitated for a moment and then breathed, “No...”

And then he was kissing her again. Fiercer than before, pushing her back against the back wall of the closet, which was full of shelves. Shelves with stuff on them. Stuff they knocked down with a clatter.

Neither of them cared.

She turned her head to the side and Zuko's mouth attached to her throat. Goosebumps erupted down her skin. She bit down on her lip to keep from crying out as pleasure rippled through her body in waves. He sucked at her pulse point, and then gently nipped her. She spread her hand on his neck, keeping him there, arching her neck in entreaty. Offering herself up to him.

Her hand hadn't stopped. She stroked him through his pants, enjoying the way his hips pulsed against her hand. She wanted to get his pants off. She wanted to get _her_ pants off. She wanted to do something very stupid.

Like screwing the Fire Lord in a tiny train closet. And if he didn't stop sucking on her neck like that, she knew she was going to.

Zuko eventually dragged his mouth back to her lips, devouring them with another deep groan that vibrated through her body. She was pretty sure she never wanted to stop kissing him. Not if he was going to make sounds like _that_ the whole time. Was he trying to kill her?

Her mouth opened to his as he pushed her head back against the shelf, one of his hands sliding down to cup her ass. She felt a mad giggle bubble up out of her, but he kissed the sound away, pulling her against him even harder. She desperately tried to get her fingers into the waistband of his pants.

One of them shifted, and that was the breaking point.

Not for their horny grope session, but for the shelf full of supplies he'd been slowly grinding her against.

It collapsed with a sudden bang, taking the shelves beneath it with it in a hail of painful debris. Painful, _loud_ debris.

“Ow!”

“Fuck,” Zuko intoned, flinching as the sound echoed in the tiny space. Suki tensed against him.

The sliding door of the closet opened a split second later, spilling what proved to be cleaning supplies into the narrow train corridor. Light struck the two of them. Wrapped around each other, their lips red from kissing, hair tangled, practically humping, Zuko and Suki squinted at the person standing on the other side of the door, as still as statues. They were well and truly caught.

Aang's hazel eyes widened, flicking across them both, taking in their disheveled appearance, their embrace, their frozen, freaked out expressions. The Avatar opened his mouth and then snapped it closed. There was a beat as the three of them stared at one another.

Then Aang slowly slid the door closed, leaving them both still frozen in each others arms.

They stood there for what felt like ages before Suki let out a soft laugh, lifting her hand to her swollen lips.

“Whoops.”

Zuko let out the breath he'd been holding and looked down at her in the gloom. He looked stunned, like someone had thrown cold water all over him. He snatched his hand off of her ass and took a half-step back, which ran him into the wall.

“Umm...” Zuko started, staring at her in panic. “Suki... I'm... I shouldn't have. Sorry. Bye!”

And with that, he fumbled for the handle of the door, sliding it open with a bang. He stumbled out of the closet, slipped on cleaning supplies and nearly ended up on his rear end in the hallway. He caught himself on the wall, righted, and then took off down the narrow train corridor like someone had lit him on fire.

Suki stared at the open doorway for a long moment, her mind reeling, trying to catch up with what exactly had just happened.

It didn't take her long to come to the conclusion that she was _angry._

She slipped and slid out of the supply closet, kicking debris out of her way, her jaw set, nostrils flared as she whipped around in the direction Zuko had hightailed it.

 _No one_ kissed her like that and then ran away like a coward.

Not even the Fire Lord.

 _Especially_ not the Fire Lord.

* * *

 

“Oh, Zuko! There you are,” Ty Lee started as Zuko barreled down the corridor toward her, his eyes straight ahead, fixed on the door of his private car, which was the last one on the train. Unfortunately the Kyoshi Warrior's sleeping car was the second to last one on the train and he had not choice but to march past Ty Lee, who was leaning against one of the compartment doors, brushing her long hair. “Did you see Aang? He went looking for you.”

“Yeah, I saw him,” Zuko mumbled, attempting to get past her, but Ty Lee's sharp eyes narrowed on him and he was forced to slow or plow her over. “What?”

Ty Lee looked him up and down. “What's the matter with you? Your aura is pulsating...”

“It is? I mean...what? Nothing's wrong. Long meeting. I need a nap. Could you move, please?”

“Zuko...”

“Ty Lee, seriously, now is not the time.”

Ty Lee looked thoroughly unconvinced, but her lips twisted and she sidled out of his way, holding up her hands.

“Fine, it's none of my business who you were making out with.”

“Say what?” one of the other Kyoshi Warriors exclaimed, sticking her dark head out of one of the berths, her makeup half-done, eyes glittering with intrigue.

Zuko felt his face go bright red as pressed his lips together and stormed past both women. He wrenched the door of the compartment open, stepped between the cars, and then into his private quarters.

Once inside, he let out a breath and put his face in his hands.

What had he done?

Oh, but he knew full well what he'd done, which was exactly what he'd been fantasizing about doing for months. How often had he lain in bed inventing scenarios in which Suki fell into his arms, in which he kissed her long and hard, put his hands in her hair, felt her body against his, her breath against his lips, the taste of her filling his mouth?

Too many damned times.

He'd wanted her for a very long time, but there were Rules. Very specific Rules about this sort of thing. She was a friend. His friend's ex. His bodyguard. Someone he respected. Someone he didn't want to cross a line with, because it might ruin everything, and he couldn't have that.

So he had Rules where Suki was concerned. He couldn't touch her for too long. He couldn't stare into her eyes—those blue, blue eyes. He wasn't allowed to be alone with her...except he broke that rule all of the time. He couldn't help it. He wasn't allowed to flirt with her either, and that was a rule he blatantly ignored, as much as he tried not to. It was impossible, when it came to Suki.

Especially when he had begun to suspect that Suki was flirting back. The way she looked at him... It had started to drive him insane with desire, this...this THING between them, whatever it was.

But rules were rules and he had just broken them all. Just smashed right through them like flimsy paper. And why? Why now? How had it happened?

But he knew, of course. Sitting in that meeting with his event coordinator, talking about yet another ceremony, he had turned his bored eyes on Suki. She had been standing in the corner of one of the dining cars they'd been using for meetings.

The slanted sunlight had caught the gold in her uniform, and danced across her face, igniting the red undertones of her brown hair. Her crimson lips had looked lush and puckered in the light, inviting, begging to be tasted.

Sensing his gaze on her, Suki had turned her eyes on him, and he'd seen the smallest quirk of her lips, fleeting but amused. She was as bored of the minutiae of these meetings as he was. Their gazes met, and he'd felt a hard jolt in his stomach. Like someone had sunk a hook just below his navel and then tugged with all their might.

He wanted to kiss her.

He wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her and not stop and fuck the Rules. Rules were made to be broken. He wanted her. Why shouldn't he have her?

His blood had boiled in his veins, thundering with unbridled desire, bubbling out of him like lava until his hands were shaking and he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. The sound drove out the words of his event coordinator.

Suki, Suki, Suki...

She was all his mind could focus on. He felt tangled up inside, wanting her, but sure there were reasons why he shouldn't. Because of the Rules. Or maybe she didn't want him the way he wanted her. What if he tried something and she slapped him? Laughed at him? Broke his heart?

What if he was a fool?

The meeting ended none too soon and he found himself standing, bowing to the coordinator, who then bowed out of the compartment, heading for the front of the train.

He was alone with Suki. Already breaking a Rule.

“What now?” Suki had asked him, one hand on her hip.

“Ummm... Back to my car, I think. I have paperwork...” he had mumbled. Suki nodded and opened the door for him. She followed in his wake as they made their way through the swaying, speeding train.

The corridors were narrow, lined with closets, bathrooms, sleeping compartments, sitting compartments filled with soldiers and train workers, laundries and tiny kitchenettes.

All through the train, from car to car, he couldn't stop thinking about the shape of Suki's lips, the smell of her perfume, the way the sun had turned her hair into a blaze of red. He could hear her walking behind him, her footfall soft, careful, on alert for trouble.

His blood roared, pulsing as imagined pushing his head into the crook of her neck and tasting her, feeling the beat of her pulse against his tongue.

As they had entered yet another car full of compartments and sliding doors hiding supply closets and bathrooms, Suki spoke up.

“So when is Aang supposed to join us?”

The sound of her voice shot electricity up his spine, turning off his brain and igniting an uncontrollable fire in his body that had nothing to do with Firebending.

He turned on Suki and met her gaze. Second Rule broken.

He didn't give a shit. He was about to break every Rule ever made, and he just didn't give a shit.

“Suki...” His voice was harsh; rough with need and impulse. Stupid, stupid impulse. The second her name left his lips he was moving, pulling her into his arms like a hero in one of Ty Lee's a romance novels.

His hands had found her waist, her neck, pushing her both backward and to the side of the corridor. Suki didn't cry out, didn't push him away, although she looked surprised. Her big blue eyes were bright, lips open. Just ready to be tasted.

“Zuko? What...?”

And then he kissed her.

No, that wasn't accurate.

He kissed the fucking shit out of her.

Suki hummed into his kiss and he was all too aware of her throwing her arms around his neck, pulling herself against him with equal fervor. His blood roared.

YES!

FINALLY!

Some part of his brain was still working, because he fumbled for the latch on one of the sliding doors lining the corridor. It opened behind Suki and he practically lifted her off of her feet and carried her into the narrow space. Their mouths parted for a brief moment, her breath sweet on his lips.

Then he slammed the door closed behind them and captured her mouth again.

After that...

Bliss.

Every stupid Rule broken and he didn't care one bit. She had kissed him back. Not just kissed him either. He could still feel the warmth of her hand on him, bold and ready. And he had been so ready to let that happen. He still was.

So why the hell had he run away?

Zuko shook his head, trying to pull himself together. He started pacing the floor, shaking hands clasped behind his back. His mouth was swollen, raw from kissing her. He could still taste her on his tongue, his lips, clinging to every corner of his soul.

He had kissed her. He had kissed Suki. And she had kissed him back.

This meant Something.

Did she feel the same way that he did?

Or had he just surprised her and she'd gone along with it because he was...ya know, the Fire Lord? Had he just abused his power?

Spirits, what if that _was_ what had happened? If so, he was a fucking monster.

...Or maaaaaaaybe he was over-thinking it.

Zuko rubbed at his forehead, feeling sweaty, disheveled and utterly freaked out. For some reason, Aang's poleaxed expression when he'd discovered them kept popping up in his head. Of all the people to have discovered him groping Suki in a closet—a closet!!—Aang was the last person he would have wanted. Okay, SOKKA was the last person he would have wanted, but he knew Aang well enough to know how he might take it.

A lecture was coming. Something about feelings and Doing the Right Thing. Or something. He had a headache just thinking about it.

And how was he going to face Suki? He didn't know if he could.

A knock suddenly pounded on his door, making him jump and swivel toward it.

“Zuko? It's me. Open up,” Suki's muffled voice said from the other side of the door. His stomach dropped out and he blew out a breath, but stayed frozen in place. “Zuko? I know you're in there.”

He hesitated, then crossed the car and opened the door. Suki stood there in the moving passage between the coupled cars, her lipstick smeared and her eyes shining. There was a hardness to her jaw, and the tilt of her head was unmistakable.

She was pissed off.

He really couldn't blame her.

Before he could say anything, her hand jabbed out and she pushed him backward from the doorway. He stumbled and she walked primly inside, and shut the door with a soft click. Then she turned around to face him.

“What is wrong with you?” Suki asked in a deceptively calm voice. Too calm. Scary calm.

He was in deep shit.

“Ummmm...”

“See, where I come from, when you pull someone into a closet and kiss them like you just kissed me, you don't just run away afterward. You _talk_ to the person whose mouth you shoved your tongue into. It's just polite.”

“Suki...”

But she held up her hand, stopping him. “Look, I am not the kind of girl who just kisses some guy for the fun of it, so don't you dare think you can use me like that and--”

“--I wasn't!”

“--Because I am not a going to put up with that kind of behavior, not from you or anyone,” Suki said firmly, her nostrils flaring. He probably shouldn't have thought that was cute, but he did. He was such a goner.

“Um...so...”

“UMM...SO? A _pologize_.”

“I'm...sorry?”

“For?”

“...Kissing you?” he hazarded.

“Are you?” Suki said, and the hurt in her voice was clear to him.

He studied her face, all the anger, the smudged, swollen lips. The memory of her hand caressing him, of nipping at her neck and hearing her little gasps...

“No. I'm not even a little bit sorry that I kissed you,” he said seriously.

Suki's brow arched. “So why did you run?”

“I don't know. Did...did you want to kiss me?”

“If I didn't want to kiss you, I would have tossed you into a wall the minute you tried. Fire Lord or not,” she said dryly. “So why did you leave me like that?”

“Because...I shouldn't have done it. I wanted to, I still want to, but I shouldn't have done it.”

Suki softened a little, biting down on her lower lip. “I know how you feel. I've been trying to tell myself to stop having feelings for you for a long time now. It kind of wasn't working.”

“I've been doing the same thing. I thought... I didn't want to ruin our friendship, and I wasn't sure if you felt the way I felt... I had all these stupid rules, and... Wait. You have feelings for me?”

Suki stifled a smile and nodded. “Yeah.”

“I have feelings for you too. I mean... I don't just grab every beautiful woman and shove her into a closet to make out with her. I wouldn't. I... You're different.”

“I'm dry-hump-in-a-closet material, huh?”

His face grew hot and he rubbed at the back of his neck. “I said that wrong.”

Suki took a step toward him, smiling openly now. “No, you said it just fine.”

Zuko looked down at her, feeling warmth and desire rushing through him again. “So you like me?”

“Yeah. And you like me.”

“Yeah,” he whispered, reaching out and sliding his hand along her jaw. “More than like. I'm sorry I just grabbed you like that.”

Suki's eyes glimmered with mischief. “I'm not. I'm kind of impressed actually. I didn't think you had it in you to just grab me like that.”

“Yeah... I kind of um, snapped. I also kind of want to kiss you again.”

“I definitely want you to,” she answered. He bent over her, intending on slaking his thirst for her, but she put her finger on his lips. “But that's all we're doing. In the closet... That was... Too fast, I think.”

His face flushed again, his cheeks pink and hot as he stared into her eyes. “You're right. We can take it as slow as you want.”

“Good... Now kiss me.”

He kissed her softly and slowly, melting into her like snow in warm sunshine. There was no rush now, no impulsive need driving him. This was confirmation, relief and release and acceptance.

Suki liked him. He wanted to shout it out loud to the whole train.

Instead, he was content with holding her in his arms, pulling her against his chest as they swayed in place together. Her taste flooded his mouth, the slow roll of her tongue against his like a warm, slippery wave. His hands spread on her back and her neck as she hummed into his kiss again. He moaned between breaths.

Everything was warm and wet and perfect.

Until the door of his train car opened, and Aang took a half-step into the room. Zuko and Suki pulled apart with a wet suck, turning their heads to see Aang standing there with a rapidly flushing face.

Zuko swallowed, still holding Suki close to him. “Aang! Ummm...when did you get here?”

Aang looked from Zuko to Suki and back again, then lifted his hands and backed out of the room again. The door closed behind him with a whoosh of air, leaving them alone in the train car, wrapped tightly around one another.

“I think we've embarrassed him,” Suki laughed.

“Serves him right for not knocking.”

“You should probably go after him.”

“Screw that,” Zuko said and kissed her again. Suki laughed against his mouth, but the sound faded as she sunk her fingers into his hair, her mouth slanting against his with furious intent.

So much for slow.

Zuko smiled against her lips, into her hot, hungry kiss. He didn't know what had finally made him snap in the corridor, not really. Maybe it had been her voice, or the way the sun had hit her, or the shape of her lips in the sunlight. Maybe it was all if it, or none of it. Maybe it didn't matter.

All he knew was that he should have kissed a long damned time ago.

_(end)_

 


End file.
